Recently, advancement has been made in the field of shaping workpieces by a cutting process. This advancement has occurred through the use of plasma-arc cutting machines in which a workpiece is disposed beneath cutting torches of a plasma-arc cutting machine. A high energy plasma-arc produced by the machine is capable of cutting through the workpiece to form it into the desired shape.
An important advantage of the use of plasma-arc cutting machines is that they have high cutting speeds, while providing smooth, sharp edges on the cut workpiece.
The installation for plasma-arc cutting of the workpieces typically includes a single station at which a workpiece is first loaded on a table with a plasma-arc cutting machine suspended overhead. Then, the plasma-arc cutting machine is lowered towards the table to cut the workpiece, and then after the cutting operation, the plasma-arc machine is raised off the table and another workpiece brought onto the table.